The Persian Alphabet
All 32 Letters, Free Pronunciation Guide
The Persian (Farsi) alphabet has 32 letters written from right to left. It shares 28 letters with Arabic and adds 4 unique Persian letters: پ, چ, ژ, گ. Learn each letter, how it sounds, and how it changes shape inside a word.
All 32 Persian Letters
Each letter with its name, sound, and an example word. Letters marked ★ unique to Persian don't exist in Arabic.
| # | Letter | Name | Sounds Like | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ا | Alef(non-connecting) | â / a / o | آب (âb) | water |
| 2 | ب | Be | b | باران (bârân) | rain |
| 3 | پ | Pe★ | p | پدر (pedar) | father |
| 4 | ت | Te | t | تهران (tehrân) | Tehran |
| 5 | ث | Se | s | ثانیه (sâniye) | second |
| 6 | ج | Jim | j | جان (jân) | soul / dear |
| 7 | چ | Che★ | ch | چای (châi) | tea |
| 8 | ح | He (guttural) | h | حال (hâl) | condition / mood |
| 9 | خ | Khe | kh | خوب (khoob) | good |
| 10 | د | Dâl(non-connecting) | d | دوست (doost) | friend |
| 11 | ذ | Zâl(non-connecting) | z | ذهن (zehn) | mind |
| 12 | ر | Re(non-connecting) | r | روز (rooz) | day |
| 13 | ز | Ze(non-connecting) | z | زیبا (zibâ) | beautiful |
| 14 | ژ | Zhe★(non-connecting) | zh | ژاپن (zhâpon) | Japan |
| 15 | س | Sin | s | سلام (salâm) | hello |
| 16 | ش | Shin | sh | شب (shab) | night |
| 17 | ص | Sâd | s | صبح (sobh) | morning |
| 18 | ض | Zâd | z | ضعیف (za'if) | weak |
| 19 | ط | Tâ | t | طلا (talâ) | gold |
| 20 | ظ | Zâ | z | ظهر (zohr) | noon |
| 21 | ع | Eyn | ' | عشق ('eshq) | love |
| 22 | غ | Gheyn | gh | غذا (ghazâ) | food |
| 23 | ف | Fe | f | فارسی (fârsi) | Persian/Farsi |
| 24 | ق | Qâf | gh | قلب (ghalb) | heart |
| 25 | ک | Kâf | k | کتاب (ketâb) | book |
| 26 | گ | Gâf★ | g | گل (gol) | flower |
| 27 | ل | Lâm | l | لبخند (labkhand) | smile |
| 28 | م | Mim | m | مادر (mâdar) | mother |
| 29 | ن | Nun | n | نان (nân) | bread |
| 30 | و | Vâv(non-connecting) | v / u / ow | ورزش (varzesh) | exercise / sport |
| 31 | ه | He | h / e | هفته (hafte) | week |
| 32 | ی | Ye | y / i | یک (yek) | one |
Persian Letters Change Shape
Most Persian letters have four forms depending on where they appear in a word: standing alone (isolated), at the start of a word (initial), in the middle (medial), or at the end (final). Here's the letter Be (b) in all four positions:
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | بـ | ـبـ | ـب |
Seven letters never connect to the letter that follows them: ا, د, ذ, ر, ز, ژ, و. After one of these, the next letter always starts in its initial form, even mid-word.
Why Learn the Persian Alphabet?
The Persian alphabet is the foundation of everything you'll do in Farsi. Once you can read the script, vocabulary lessons, grammar guides, and even Persian poetry stop being a wall of unfamiliar shapes and start becoming words you recognize.
Good news: it's smaller than you think. There are only 32 letters, no capital and lowercase forms, and no silent vowels hidden everywhere like in English. With about an hour of focused practice you can recognize every letter, and within a week most learners can sound out simple words on their own.
A few quirks make it easier still. Persian doesn't use grammatical gender, doesn't mark plurals with a hundred exceptions, and short vowels are usually skipped in writing — which means you only need to learn the 32 consonants plus 3 long vowels to start reading.
Related Reading
Guides to help you go from the alphabet to fluent reading
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